Elizabeth Lee, the former opposition leader, would not say she supported Mark Parton after the incumbent leader's admission he had texted "f--- my job is boring" from a parliamentary hearing.
"Obviously, Mark's been elected as leader by the party room and he will remain so until the party room determines otherwise," Ms Lee said.
Mr Parton on Friday said he was getting "universal" support from his colleagues.
"I would say that I'm extremely apologetic for being a part of a distraction. And it's a distraction which is at a time when the government's on the ropes," he said.
Ms Lee is thought to have no interest in leading the party again, despite some within the Canberra Liberals saying she is eager to return to the job.
On Monday morning, Ms Lee was pushed in an ABC radio interview whether she thought Mr Parton, who was made leader in November 2025, was the right man for the job now.
"The leader has been fronting the media and answering questions and it'll be up to people to make a call about what they think about the whole thing," she said.
"But, as I said, it's a decision of party room. Leadership is always a gift of party room and he's there as a result of, you know, a vote in party room and, you know, unless or until that changes, that's what it is."
Ms Lee said she respected the decision of party room and dodged a question of whether she aspired to one day lead the party again.
Ms Lee declined to comment further when she was contacted by The Canberra Times.
The Canberra Liberals held a party room on Monday morning and it is understood the meeting was uneventful and there was no interest in further leadership discussions.
Mr Parton strenuously denied he had texted a sex worker to say "f--- my job is boring. wanna swap" during a budget estimates hearing following an anonymous complaint about his behaviour, The Canberra Times on Wednesday reported.
Mr Parton said the allegations were "politically motivated" and a "false, malicious and a clear attempt to smear" him.
The Canberra Times separately obtained an image showing a photo taken from Mr Parton's seat at the committee table, with officials and Chief Minister Andrew Barr in the background. The text underneath the photo in a message exchange read: "And f--- my job is boring. Wanna swap".
The image appeared to have been reposted on a social media platform by someone who described its sender as "a well known politician client".
On Thursday, Mr Parton told a press conference he had sent a text message from the hearing that said "f--- my job is boring" but again denied sending it to a sex worker.
Attorney-General Tara Cheyne defended Mr Parton sending the text message and said it was not an issue if it had been sent to a sex worker.
"And I really do think that sex work is work. It's a legitimate profession, and if that's who it was, so be it," Ms Cheyne said.
